Indoor Shooting Practice
by Monty Twain
Summary: Set after STUD, before SIGN. Ever wandered what Watson thought of the first time he saw Holmes do Indoor shooting practice? Oneshot.


Set after STUD, before SIGN. Ever wandered what Watson thought of the first time he saw Holmes do Indoor shooting practice? Oneshot.

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It was a rainy day in October, and I had been out all day, getting very little accomplished. It had been cold and wet, and now I was cold and wet. So it was with some irritation I ascended the stairs, my leg sore from the weather.

But I was interrupted from my inner protests to the heavens by one Mrs. Hudson, my sprightly landlady, who seemed quite wound up.

"Dr Watson!" She grasped my arm and I halted.

"Mrs. Hudson, how may I help you?" I said my voice grating with strained graciousness.

"It's Mr. Holmes! He must persist with his antisocial behaviour! He is in a most curious mood, sir, and he won't stop. I tried to ask him to stop, but he looks at me as though making explosions with his chemicals is perfectly normal-"

"Explosions?" I interjected. Holmes had come across as somewhat of a bucket chemist, I put it down to his eccentric self tutoring, but he had never seemed to me anything but extremely careful.

"Yes explosions, as if it isn't bad enough that he was incessantly playing his violin for three hours before I took him lunch!"

At this I thought Mrs Hudson, despite Holmes' antics, was blowing things out proportion and being rather rude. "Well Mrs Hudson I must apologise on my-"A noise that shredded my nerves rang out- a gun shot. The sound hung in the air like smoke, echoing in my ears, sending me across a continent back to Afghanistan. So surprised as I was, I couldn't bring myself to move.

I looked over at Mrs. Hudson, who had gripped my arm again to steady herself. Gently scraping her off, I muttered something about the police, and to be ready, then reached an tremulous arm out to the door of 221B.

When I opened it, Holmes was holding a smoking gun at me. This astonished me at first, for I had assumed a disagreeable client had shot, or that Holmes had shot himself. For Holmes to shoot where I was coming seemed an action of attempted murder. All this went through my mind in the time it took for my jaw to drop.

He smiled at me as though his aiming a gun at me was perfectly normal. Slowly, as he realised I hadn't appreciated the humourous side of this chaotic scene, his lips [with some effort straightened, and his eyebrows lowered into an expectant look.

"G-good afternoon, Holmes."

"Good afternoon, my dear Watson." He had never addressed my so amiably.

I breathed in sharply through my teeth, and my mouth became dry. "Holmes."

"Yes, Watson."

"I would rather like it if you stop this indoor practice please. For the sake of Mrs Hudson's door, my nerves and our accommodation at these excellent rooms for than a quarter." His unrelenting smile made me falter on my soapbox.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, Watson. I thought you were out, and I should have been more courteous to our charming landlady."

"All right." I cocked my head to one side, wandering whether he had really noted what I had said.

"Watson, you are leaning over rather, I fear your leg is worse due to your little shock, thanks to me. Pray sit down."

I frowned, unable to hide my confusion. "Well, you can't take all the credit. It was aching before." I took a seat, next to the armchair Holmes was already occupying.

Holmes waved his elegant hand in the direction of the door. There was a thick corkboard nailed to it, preventing serious damage to the door. "I did try chivalry." He smiled again, and just as I started to laugh, Mrs Hudson arrived unceremoniously and asked me if we should require the police. This was enough for me to teeter over the edge far enough not to be able to respond. Holmes touched my knee in a silent order to be quiet, but I couldn't stop, so he answered for me.

"Mrs. Hudson, I don't feel that is entirely necessary. I am quite alright, as is your door, if you peer around… Watson is probably ashamed of himself for being so tickled by the trouble it has caused you." I looked from Holmes to Mrs Hudson, and nodded, red faced and occasionally giving the odd spurt of mirth.

She addressed as one would two schoolboys. "Be sure it doesn't happen again, or your lodgings will be in jeopardy. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meal to make."

We took this to be a statement that we would have to go out that evening for dinner.


End file.
